Osmo polyx oil looks terrible on wooden floor. Wtf?!

[StillStriving]

After reading the many, MANY glowing reviews of Osmo polyx oil we chose is for our wooden stairs. We very have carefully sanded them and it has taken hours and hours.

We've now done the first application of Osmo polyx oil following all the instructions and it looks absolutely awful. Where it was a smooth sanded surface, it's now all patchy. It's like it's absorbed in some areas and not others. It's been worked in with a rag but it doesn't help.

You'll see the patchiness in the photo (it's just down the sides - the middle will be covered by a runner). We didn't do the landing as we couldn't face it but the stairs turn at that point and go down a long flight.

We're disappointed after the amount of hours we spent sanding and preparing but not sure what to do next. Do we carry on to a second coat and hope it cures it, or do we try something different on top to rescue it?

I have tried googling and although people mention various situations/issues, I can't see anything totally similar.

Anyone?

Btw - it looks wet but that photo was taken after 12 hours drying.

Oh no!
Did you apply thinly? Osmo is not to be slopped on (just checking)

Try a very thin second coat. I have found before old wood is variable and some parts absorb more, the second coat evens out.

Had the wood been treated with anything else prior to you sanding it?

I'd say it's the wood not the Osmo oil that's the issue unless you've used far too much - it should be a thin coat left for 12 hours before re-coating. This is going to sound awful, but the pine boards of the stairs are not particularly attractive to me. The floorboards at either end of the staircase look better. I'd just carpet the stairs wall to wall instead of spending more time on it.

Thank you for replying!

Yes - to be honest I applied thinly and it came up looking like that. I applied a bit more thickly in desperation that maybe I wasn't using enough and it still came up the same.

It is old wood - 1850s. I hadn't thought about that.

I think we'll crack in with a thin second layer for the stairs and cross our fingers. A runner will cover most of the stairs anyway

Any suggestions of a fool proof (idiot proof!) varnish/similar for the landing section? It isn't being carpeted so has to look decent.

I am going to caveat this with, I don’t have experience of this stuff. But my 2p - I would contact the manufacturer, & see if they can offer suggestions.
Because I can’t leave well enough alone, I would work Over the patches only with more oil. I might give them a very light sand with very fine sandpaper first. I would start with one of the patches that could be under the runner (is that the top step?)
I would look very closely to see if there’s any difference in the texture of the wood there.
I can see the patches & see how annoying it would be, but I also think the stairs look great, and it’s a lovely colour.

Thanks wowfudge, we thought about just carpeting wall to wall but the runner will have been cut and bound by now I think. I could check.

The stairs actually look much worse than they ever used to. If we'd just left them they would probably have looked ok. We thought we were doing the right thing and have totally messed it up.

Oh that’s such an annoying situation! I have to admit, we paid quite a bit getting floors done by a professional. They looked like shit & we just put carpet over total waste of money, didn’t even leave a bad review.

I also think that once you have the runner down & have lived with it for a bit, you might find you stop seeing it, or it becomes part of the character of the stairs.

Ring Osmo customer care on Monday if the 2nd coat doesn't help. By thin coat I mean dab on with a rag and wipe over so its only just wet, no scrubbing or working in needed.

Sorry, another thing can be what grit of sandpaper was finally used, if that was patchy it could affect absorption.

Thanks. Ok thin coat on a rag I can do - that's how I started off, almost like a damp dust.

If anyone can recommend a varnish for the landing let me know. There's a decent independent paint place nearby that might be able to help too.

Thanks coldhands. I think you're right about the stairs. Character

Final was 120 as I had read if it was too fine it affected absorption, so theoretically it shouldn't be that but I accept it could be patchy sanding. We were careful but I guess it's hard to tell when you're doing it.

I know how you feel as this happened to us after hours of sanding the floor and it’s so disappointing. We used the natural colour and it came out so orange which was such a shock because the colour of the natural bare wood was light and beautiful after the sanding. The darker colour just made any patches stand out. I stupidly didn’t do a test area first. Anyway, we then applied a coat of the version with the white pigment in it over which counteracts the bright orange and it looks beautiful now! Just thought I’d mention it in case you think lightening the tone might help reduce how obvious any imperfections are?

Osmo is just a mixture of waxes and oils in a solvent, so there is no reason it would give a patchy finish to that extent. My guess is there is some other finish still on the wood in places which is stopping the osmo soaking in.

On a bit which is hidden by the runner:

1. A good scrub with washing up liquid. If it's just oil or a varnish then this should get rid.

1. If the washing up liquid works, but not brilliantly try a chemical degreaser.

1. If that doesn't work, try different solvents like white spirits.

Should mention, the first two will remove the osmo so if you want another crack at it with something else then degrease first.

Try sadolin pv 64 for a hard wearing non shiny varnish. It's what they use on bar tops.

This is the one we used:

POLYX-OIL EFFECT RAW

I second to speak to customer care. I had a similar issue recently but with a piece of furniture. I've used that same Osmo oil with perfect results then bought a second tin of the same and my table was a stained sticky mess. Ended up having to strip and sand it all off and use oil instead. Very strange!

It does sound like due to age of stairs there is probably previous product left on the wood causing patches. Big job to strip/resand to then apply the osmo again properly. I've had a bad tin of osmo once & it left a sticky residue rather than anything else so unlikely to be the product.

Do you have a picture of the stairs after sanding but before the Osmo oil?